Process of waterproofing fibrous materials and product.



WILLIAM W. CARTIER, OF NIIEJEJDHAN, NASSACHUSJETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEWTON COMPANY, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OT MAINE.

PROCESS OF WATERPROOFING FIBROUS MATERIALS AND PRODUCT.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, WILLIAM W. CARTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Needham, in the county .of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of Waterproofing Fibrous Materials and Product, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in processes of waterproofing fibrous materials andthe products resulting from such waterproofing.

More specifically it is herein set forth as it may be used for waterproofing and toughening a felted fabric so that the product is suitable for use as a substitute for leather, as for example, for the soles of shoes.

- Heretofore fabrics have been waterproofed by chemical precipitation of insoluble soaps and resins. Although the vari ous forms of this process have been thought to have a considerable degree of industrial value, it results in producing only a more or less granular or crystalline coating, and the completeness of waterproofing, and the durability and toughness of the resultant composite fabric, are not at all equal to what it is the object of the present invention to attain.

The improved method includes as one step the impregnation'of the fibers with a molten water-free insoluble soap, which subsequently is allowed to cool and solidify. This may be done by passing the fabric through a bath of molten soap, or the bath -may be made in site, as it were, by melting soap that has in solid form been placed in close association with the fibers. By this means a continuous filmous filling is formed a which, in conjunction withthe fibers makes a fabric that is flexible, tough, and impervious to water.

The invention is not limited to the use of any particular insoluble soap or soaps or mixture thereof, the principal requirement being that the soap shall be not soluble in water and that it shall be fusible at a temperature which is not injurious to the fiber. Nor is the invention limited to the manufacture of the soap, nor the impregnation of the fibers therewith according to any particular method. It appears to be important, however, that the soap be free Specifit ation of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. at, rare.

Application filed Uctober 522, 191i. Serial No. $68,130.

from water, lest the water leave holes as it gradually evaporates.

In order to set forth more precisely the nature of the invention and to give an example of the commercial application thereof, and of the best form in which it is at present contemplated to apply the invention, a description will be given of a specific embodiment and application of the method for waterproofing shoe soles of felt or other fabric.- Tn the preferred form of the invention, when applied for this purpose, a bath is prepared of insoluble lead soap of oleic acid and lead soap of the fatty acids of Chinese wood oil, in liquid form free from water. These ingredients may be taken in any suitable proportion, a proportion which I have found good being four pounds of the oleic soap to six pounds of the Chinese wood oil soap. These ingredients having been put together in a receptacle -and heated, fusion occurs at a' temperature in the region of 110 to 130 centigrade, a temperature which-is not injurious to textile fabrics. Preferably the temperature of fusion should not exceed 140 for this purpose. The presence of the oleic soap causes the mixture to melt at a lower temperature than that at which the wood oil soap would otherwise melt. The fibrous material, or the fabric, which is to constitute the principal material of the sole,

is then dipped into this bath and is allowed able method, or may becooled by simply exposing it to the atmosphere, .but a bath of cold water causes the soap to solidify more rapidly than if it be merely exposed in the air. .When the fabric has been impregnated the excess soap may be removed,

either by squeezing it out before solidify-' ing, or by cutting or abrading it after solidifying, and suitable finishing process such as calendering or pressing may be applied. The product may be colored by disthe water thus separated from it, so that the of fibers and soap retains the shape of the.

mold. That form of the process in which solid soap is assembled with -the fibers is especially suitable to this, because the soap can be placed with the fibers in the mold at ordinary temperatures. and the mold'then subjected to heat suflicient to melt the soap.

It is to be understood that there is a distinction between the melted soap herein referred to, which is a true melted soap, and that material which is sometimes spokenof as melted soap, but which is really a solution of soap in water, such as takes place" when a soap containing Water is heated until the soap becomes soluble in the water. In such a case the rise of temperature separates the water that is already present in association with the soap, and then the soap dissolves 1n entire mass changes from a solid into a liquid. In contra-distinction, it is preferred in the process of the invention that the insoluble soap shall be free from water; and that, in case of doubt or for greater certainty, its freedom from water shall be insured by heating the soap preliminarily to 150 centigrade for a period in order to separate all water and drive it all off as vapor. As a result, the liquefying and solidifying, which takes place in practising the process are true fusing and freezing processes, and no, water remains entrapped in the products when cooled. Under these circumstances the solid which forms when the temperature falls is continuous in physical character or form instead ofbeing of the character of a precipitate. In the finished product the constituent soap of Chinese wood oil or its equivalent has a binding effect, introducing great toughness, and at soap may be put with eight pounds of the Chinese wood oil soap. Equivalents or cognate soaps may be substituted, in whole or in part, in suitable proportions, in place of the specific ingredients mentioned. However the ingredients elected for particular mention herein are very well suited to the characteristic peculiarities of the process, because of the convenient and safe temperature at which they melt, which is harmless to fibers and is easily maintained under manufacturing conditions where long webs of fabric are to be passed in and out; because of the toughness, flexibility and elasticity which characterize the product after the impregnated mixture of fibers and soap is cooled; and because of the cheapness and commercial practicability of the ingredients.

If linseed oil soap be introduced in substitution for the oleic soap, it may be in substantially the same proportions as the oleic would be, or it may merely take the place of half or three-quarters of the oleic soap. According to the degree in which it is used it has the effect of raising the melting point, of eliminating a certain stickiness which is noticed under some conditions, and of increasing the cost of the product. In place of the soap of the fatty acids of Chinese wood oil any suitable soaps of the unsaturated fatty acids may be used.

It is the object of the'patent to cover in the appended claims such features of patentable novelty as exist in the invention disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A process of waterproofing fibrous materials including the impregnating of the fibrous mass with molten insoluble soap and thereafter allowing the soap to solidify among the fibers.

2. A process of waterproofing fibrous materials including the impregnating of the mass with liquid containing molten insoluble Chinese wood oil soap and thereafter allowing the soap to solidify among the fibers.

3. A process of waterproofing fibrous materials including the impregnating of the mass with a molten mixture of insoluble lead soap of oleic acidand Chinese wood oil soap and thereafter allowing the soap to solidify among the fibers.

4. A process of waterproofing fibrous materials including the impregnating of the mass with a molten mixture of insoluble soap having about one part of lead soap of oleic acid to nearly two parts of Chinese wood oil soap and thereafter allowing the soap to solidify among the fibers.

5. A process of waterproofing fibrous materials including the impregnating of the mass with molten insoluble soap containing a soap having tough and elastic characteristics when solid and another soap introducing qualities of softnessand flexibility; and thereafter allowing the soap to solidify among the fibers.

6. A process of waterproofing fibrous materials comprising the heating of an insoluble soap to a sufiicient temperature and for a sufficient time to separate any water present therewith and drive it off as vapor, and to melt the soap, said temperature of melting being of a degree not injurious to the fibers; the impregnation of the fibrous mass with said fused soap, and the solidification of the soap.

7. A'process of waterproofing fibrous ma terials consisting of impregnation of a mass of materials with a molten insoluble soap, followed by solidification of the soap among the fibers and removal of excess soap from the fibers.

terials including the preparation of a bath of molten insoluble soap having the characteristic that it fuses to an impregnating fluidity at a temperature not injurious'to the fibers, the said soap containing as ingredients a tenacious waterproof soap which when alone fuses at a higher temperature, and a soap which when alone fuses at a lower temperature, producing in combination a 14. A waterproof body having a fibrous structure impregnated with insoluble soap of Chinesewood oil.-

15. A waterproof body comprising a fibrous structure having a continuously solid filling of a tenacious and elastic insoluble soap pervading the structure and adhering to the fibers.

16. A waterproof body having a fibrous structure impregnated with a tenacious continuously solid insoluble soap free from water. p

17. A waterproof body having a fibrous structure impregnated with a mixture of insoluble soaps made from Chinese wood oil, oleic acid, and linseed oil.

Signed by me at Boston, Mass, this seventeenth day of October, 1914.

WILLIAM W. CARTER. Witnesses:

JOSEPH 'J[. BRENNAN, EVERETT lE. KENT. 

